Improvement in upright-piano-forte actions



F. FRICKINGER.

UPRIGHT PIANO-FORTE ACTION.

Patented Jan. 25, 1876.

Jill/mini:

N. PETERS. FHOTO-LITHOGRAPH "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIoE.

FRIEDRIGK FRIGKINGER, OF WEST NASSAU, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN UPRIGHT-PIANO-FORTE ACTIONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 72,621, dated January25, 1876; application filed November 15, 1875..

Cam B.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICK FRIOKIN- GER, of West Nassau, in thecounty of Bensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new andImproved Action for UprightPiano- Fortes, of which the following is aspecification:

Figure l is a side view of my improved piano-forte action. Fig. 2 is aside view of part thereof, showing a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

This invention relates to an improved elastic joint for the lifter of anupright piano-forte action, and also to a new mechanism for drawing thehammer off the string, all as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawing, the letter A represents the key, 13 thelifter, O the jack or fly-lever, D the fly, E the hammer butt or shank,and F the hammer of an upright pianoforte action. G is a cross-rail ofthe pianoframe, in front of the lower part of the lifter. To this railis secured, by screws or otherwise, a lug, a, to which a lever, H, ispivoted, as shown. The inner end of the lever H is pivoted by a pin, 12,to the lower part of the lifter. As thus far described, thelifter-connection a H b is old.

My improvement consists in connecting the lifter, below the lever H,with said lever H by a spring, I, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Thisspring has the tendency to draw the lower part of the lifter toward therail G, and to consequently move the upper part of the lifter inward,and to thereby vibrate the lever O, and cause the hammer to strike. The

spring I is, however, not strong enough to efl'ect these movementsunaided. It only tends to effect them, and aidsthe player as soon as thekey is touched. In fact, by this spring I the action is nearly balanced,so that a very slight touch on the key will suffice to work the hammer.

Many, especially the better class of players, sire their instruments tobe so adjusted 11L at they can be played with the least possibleipenditure of power. By my invention such an instrument is produced.

The second feature of my invention has ref-- erence to the means ofwithdrawing the hammer from the string or cord. This has usually beendone by a cord or strap connecting the hammer-butt with the rigidpiano-frame behind the hammer, and was, therefore, a mechanism distinctfrom the other action. In fact, rapid strokes with the hammer werealmost impossible when the dead pull-back was applied; yet theexcellence of an instrument depends, to a great degree, on its capacityof rapidly repeating the strokes of a hammer. Now, my invention consistsin connecting the hammer-butt E with the fly D by a short strap, 61,which is applied to pins projecting from said butt and fly, as shown.The fly, in dropping, will draw the hammer down with it by means of thestrap d, and will, when pushed up again, immediately throw the hammeragainst the cord, thus aiding in the production of and permitting rapidstrokes of the hammer. In addition to the strap 01 a spring, 6, fastenedto the hinge-piece f, and hooking into a loop, 9, on the hammer-butt,behind the pivot of said but-t, may be used.

This spring is very sensitive, and is just strong enough to draw thehammer back, while it does actually not resist the striking motion ofthe hammer. Nor does the strap'd offer such resistance. But the back-springs heretofore in use had to be expanded by the striking motion ofthe hammer, and offered a very objectionable resistance to the same.

The spring 6 may be used in conjunction with or independent of the strapd.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an upright'piano action, the combination,with the lifter B and lever H, of the balance-spring I,-substantially asherein shown and described. I

2. In an upright-piano action, the combination of the ordinaryjack orfly lever O and fly D with the strap 61 and hammer-butt E, all arrangedto operate so that the fly in dropping will draw the hammer otf thestring, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. In an upright-piano-rorte action, the combination of the spring 6,which has a hook at its free end, with the loop g fastened to thehammer-butt, behind the pivot of said butt, substantially as specified.

FRIEDRIUK FRIOKINGER.

Witnesses:

ERNEST O. WEBB, G. G. MANNEY.

